Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Richard Brahm | CAPE MAY, N.J. - Piping plover pair nests on the beach at Training Center Cape May,...... read more read more
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The nation’s waterways and marine ecosystems are vital to the United States’ economy and health. Ensuring the nation enjoys a rich, diverse and sustainable ocean environment is an important Coast Guard mission.
This includes ensuring the country’s at-risk marine species have the protection necessary to help their populations recover to healthy levels.
The Coast Guard is one of the federal agencies that protect the ocean environment, and the marine life that inhabits it by enforcing domestic and international laws. The service is responsible for protecting one of the largest maritime areas in the world, comprising 3.4 million square miles of ocean and more than 90,000 miles of coastline.
The Coast Guard plays a key role in helping the nation recover and maintain healthy populations of marine protected species through our statutory mission of Living Marine Resources. This includes assisting in preventing the decline of marine protected species populations, promoting the recovery of marine protected species and their habitats, collaborating with other agencies and organizations to enhance stewardship of marine ecosystems, and ensuring internal compliance with appropriate legislation, regulations, and management practices.
In 2020, an endangered species decided to make the beach of Coast Guard Training Center Cape May its home. This year, it fledged a chick after more than a decade of failed attempts. That species was the Atlantic Coast Piping Plover.
Piping plovers hide in plain sight on sandy ocean beaches and shores, blending in with their sandy gray backs. It is not until they scurry down the sand on their orange legs that you are likely to spot these big-eyed shorebirds with a sharp black collar and an orange bill. They nest in soft sand away from the water's edge along the Atlantic Coast and lay up to four eggs that hatch in about 25 days.
The downy chicks are soon able to follow their parents in foraging for the marine worms, crustaceans, and insects that they pluck from the sand and eat. Both the eggs and piping plover chicks blend into the beach so thoroughly that they are almost impossible to see. Surviving chicks are able to fly in about 30 days.
When storm tides, predators or intruding humans disrupt the nests before the eggs hatch, plovers will often abandon the nest. They can often lay another clutch of eggs; however, chicks hatched from these late-nesting efforts may not fly until late in the season, risking their ability to migrate, which could then lead to death.
The piping plover is a threatened species by designation, which means that the population could become extinct without Endangered Species Act protection.
Wildlife personnel documented piping plovers nesting at Training Center Cape May as far back as 1987 but it is likely that nesting occurred in the years prior as well. Since 2008, the base has averaged less than one pair of plovers with a high of two pairs (2012) and a low of zero pairs for most of the period. One of the unit’s environmental goals is to resolve the recent downward trend in nesting pairs at the base. Recovery efforts included conserving breeding and wintering habitat; protecting breeding birds, eggs, and chicks from predators and from disturbance and death caused by human activities.
There continue to be many obstacles facing the piping plover and its quest for survival.
“The most challenging part of the breeding process was monitoring the plovers after they hatched,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew Norman, a marine science technician and environmental specialist at the base. “The chicks are mobile within a few hours after they hatch, walking the beach with the adults foraging for food. This makes them a target for predators. Keeping them safe is difficult because they can be anywhere on the beach at any given time. At this point, it became strictly monitoring hoping for survival and deterring any disturbances from people.”
Predation remains the leading cause of nest failure on base. Typically, this threat comes from raccoons, feral cats, gulls, crows, foxes, and most recently, coyotes.
Also, commercial, residential, and recreational development has decreased suitable coastal habitat for piping plovers to nest and feed. Additionally, the broad area of human disturbance often curtails plover breeding success. Foot and vehicle traffic may crush nests or chicks. Excessive disturbance may cause plover parents to desert the nest, exposing eggs or chicks to the summer sun and predators. Interrupted feedings may stress juvenile birds during critical periods in their development. Other disturbances such as harassment of feeding/roosting shorebirds, and trampling of plants in the habitat are also concerning.
Training Center Cape May's entire beach is a Protected Zone based on current and historical use by beach nesting birds. This zone promotes the safety and recovery of listed species and enhancement of their habitat.
The Coast Guard manages the beach as a “vehicle-free” and “people free” area during the nesting season, closing to everyone with exceptions for environmental personnel and security.
A major victory in the effort to save and assist the numerous endangered species in the area has been the development of interagency partnerships between the federal, state and local governments.
Historically, Training Center Cape May sought opportunities to help recover and maintain the nation’s marine protected species by working closely with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Marine Sanctuaries, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of State, Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services, and the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife (NJDFW).
“The Coast Guard is important for a few reasons, primarily geographic location. The piping plover population in the state has declined overall, but it has dramatically declined in Cape May County,” said Kashi Davis, an environmental specialist with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife in the Endangered and Nongame Species Program.
“The Coast Guard provides a great opportunity for recruitment,” said Davis. “Low human disturbance is one of the most attractive qualities of this site and we are sure it helped attract this pair. The Endangered Species Act also directs all federal agencies to use their authorities to further the purposes of the Act. That means we can count on federal partners to play an incredibly important role in helping protect these species -- which the Coast Guard has done great effect!”
The Coast Guard works with partner organizations to ensure the service is doing all it can to provide enforcement for diverse marine protected areas, and to assist collaborators with their education and outreach initiatives. The Coast Guard also provides data needed to answer important questions about marine protected species.
“Building the interagency partnerships and working with likeminded people toward a common goal has been an excellent experience,” said Norman. “They made me more knowledgeable about the specific type of environment New Jersey has and how to conserve it.”
“Being able to work with NJDFW, learning about this species, and helping monitor and protect the nest from the beginning as eggs to the first flight gave me a great sense of accomplishment,” said Norman.
Early in the nesting season, Norman installed symbolic PVC fencing or fiberglass fence posts to identify the protected area and keep people from disturbing the birds.
Daily, environmental specialists monitor the beach for plover activity. They visually check for active plovers and the possible presence of predators by looking for tracks in the sand and on the beach. They also verify that the adults are nesting and incubating their eggs and follow up with visits throughout the season to document the progress from egg to fledging.
In partnership with USFWS, the states monitor and track individual plovers chosen as part of the banding program to collect data on migration and other life factors with the goal to ensure plovers are able to live, grow, and thrive in their natural habitat and that conservationists have the best data in making decisions to protect them.
Many uncertainties remain in the recovery of piping plovers in New Jersey including whether the increase in pairs will be sustainable over time. Addressing issues in a dynamic coastal system while managing habitat suitability and increasing pair recruitment will continue to challenge species managers. Despite these challenges, wildlife managers continue to work on developing a sustainable population through a strong foundation of research, management, and monitoring.
There are fewer places for these tiny birds to raise their families as beaches rise in popularity or erode, and the Training Center property offers a prime location to ensure their survival.
The Coast Guard has instilled in every member of the service the belief that each individual is a steward of the ocean. The service promotes this concept throughout the entire organization and preservation of marine protected species is a fundamental Coast Guard responsibility.
“We aren't just trying to save one species. We are working to maintain an ecosystem, of which plovers are one part,” said Davis. “Especially in New Jersey, coastal habitats have been modified by and for people, even when it is to our detriment. The more we poke holes in these systems, the less they are able to function properly. Coastal landscapes, and their inhabitants, have their own intrinsic value that should be enough to motivate people to protect them.”
In short, members of the Coast Guard must think of themselves as a steward of the ocean. Committing to being stewards of the maritime environment will enable the service to reach the goal of providing effective and professional enforcement to advance national goals for the conservation, management, and recovery of living marine resources, marine protected species, and national marine sanctuaries and monuments.
“The environment and wildlife has always been as passion of mine, which is one reason why I became a Marine Science Technician,” said Norman. “My goal has always been to be a biologist, so being able to work closely with NJDFW helped me work towards that goal. I never considered the importance of the piping plovers and some of the other species, because I really didn't know much about them.”
“Working with the past Environmental Specialist, Chris Hajduk, and NJDFW, who were both knowledgeable and passionate about these birds, I began to learn and care for a species I never even thought of before. Helping throughout this process was truly a rewarding accomplishment and helped me realize my true passion for local wildlife and the environment,” said Norman.
With this effort, there is hope that the piping plover will again be a permanent resident at the Training Center and not just a once-a-decade visitor or a footnote in Cape May history of what once was.
| Date Taken: | 08.05.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 08.05.2020 11:45 |
| Story ID: | 375313 |
| Location: | NEW JERSEY, US |
| Web Views: | 26 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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